Fordham Leadership Academy

Fordham Leadership Academy is a public high school serving 385 students in grades 9-12 in the New York City Geographic District #10, which is ranked 708 out of 874 districts in New York and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Fordham Leadership Academy has consistently ranked in the bottom 20% of New York high schools over the past 10 years, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger indicating very low performance compared to other schools in the state. The school struggles across all student subgroups, ranking in the bottom 50% for female, male, African American, Hispanic, English Language Learner, Special Education, and low-socioeconomic status students. Its 4-year graduation rate has hovered around 84-86% in recent years, significantly below the state average, and it has had high dropout rates ranging from 4-5%. Fordham Leadership Academy also has very high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 31.5% to 42.7% in recent years, well above the state average. Students perform poorly on Regents exams, with only 12.5% proficient in Regents Chemistry compared to 64.53% statewide.

Fordham Leadership Academy performs significantly worse than the other public high schools located in the same district and immediate vicinity, such as Theatre Arts Production Company School, Providing Urban Learners Success In Education High School, and Belmont Preparatory High School, which generally have higher academic performance, graduation rates, and lower absenteeism. The combination of high poverty rates, high chronic absenteeism, and low academic achievement at Fordham Leadership Academy points to systemic issues that likely require a multi-faceted approach to address.